A Team of Curators Designs a System for Indigenous Artists to Thrive In
The term ‘decolonization’ has been used frequently to describe the exhibition yəhaw̓. But you won’t hear its curators call it a decolonial project. So what is it, if not that? The term ‘decolonization’ has been used frequently to describe the exhibition yəhaw̓. But you won’t hear its curators call it a decolonial project. So what is it, if not that?
A TEAM OF CURATORS DESIGNS A SYSTEM FOR INDIGENOUS ARTISTS TO THRIVE IN
- Page 2 and 3: SEATTLE — The word ‘decolonizat
- Page 4 and 5: Together the curators aimed to chal
A TEAM OF CURATORS<br />
DESIGNS A SYSTEM FOR<br />
INDIGENOUS ARTISTS TO<br />
THRIVE IN
SEATTLE — The word ‘decolonization’ has been bandied about<br />
all over national and regional arts outlets lately, but it is <strong>of</strong>ten<br />
misused or misunders<strong>to</strong>od. <strong>In</strong> Seattle, the term was used<br />
frequently <strong>to</strong> describe yəhaw̓ , the first exhibition in the newly<br />
retr<strong>of</strong>itted, 7,500-square-foot Seattle Office <strong>of</strong> Arts & Culture<br />
ARTS Gallery, on the second floor <strong>of</strong> his<strong>to</strong>ric and still-operating<br />
King Street Station. The exhibition, which ran throughout the<br />
summer, was named <strong>for</strong> a Lushootsheed word that means “<strong>to</strong><br />
proceed, go <strong>for</strong>ward, and <strong>to</strong> do it,” and reflected “a nuanced,<br />
inclusive narrative that firmly establishes the vital<br />
contributions generated by Native thinkers and makers, here<br />
and now.” Its three cura<strong>to</strong>rs — Tracy Rec<strong>to</strong>r<br />
(Choctaw/Seminole), Asia Tail (Cherokee), and Satpreet Kahlon<br />
— have been lauded <strong>for</strong> decolonizing the exhibition by<br />
accepting artworks by all self-identified <strong><strong>In</strong>digenous</strong> artists<br />
submitted through an open call, and <strong>for</strong> featuring the work <strong>of</strong><br />
over 200 <strong><strong>In</strong>digenous</strong> artists residing in Washing<strong>to</strong>n, Oregon,<br />
Alaska, Montana, and British Columbia, with many more artists<br />
represented in two zine publications and multiple satellite<br />
exhibitions and public programs throughout King County. But<br />
you won’t hear its cura<strong>to</strong>rs call yəhaw̓ a decolonial exhibition.<br />
So what is it, if not that?
Let’s try taking the cura<strong>to</strong>rs’ basic premise — that this is a show<br />
curated by and <strong>for</strong> <strong><strong>In</strong>digenous</strong> artists and communities living and<br />
working in the Pacific Northwest — as a simple fact, not as an<br />
exception. By doing so, it is far more interesting <strong>to</strong><br />
consider yəhaw̓ as an example <strong>of</strong> <strong><strong>In</strong>digenous</strong> creatives having<br />
sovereignty over their visual representation and resources, or what<br />
artist-scholar Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (Michi Saagiig<br />
Nishnaabeg) would call “<strong><strong>In</strong>digenous</strong> resurgence and co-resistance.”<br />
As Simpson writes, in projects <strong>of</strong> <strong><strong>In</strong>digenous</strong> resurgence, the wellbeing<br />
<strong>of</strong> individuals is directly linked <strong>to</strong> the well-being <strong>of</strong> collectives;<br />
resurgent movements try “<strong>to</strong> center <strong><strong>In</strong>digenous</strong> practices and<br />
thoughts in our lives as everyday acts <strong>of</strong> resistance, and grow those<br />
actions and processes in<strong>to</strong> a mass mobilization.” By creatively<br />
gaining and maintaining resources and access, being transparent<br />
about budgets and cura<strong>to</strong>rial processes, and working <strong>to</strong>wards<br />
creating temporary and permanent spaces <strong>to</strong> feature <strong><strong>In</strong>digenous</strong><br />
makers, yəhaw̓ ’s cura<strong>to</strong>rial team has created new systems that<br />
should inspire all art workers.<br />
FaceTiming with yəhaw̓ ’s three cura<strong>to</strong>rs in late August, I was<br />
reminded <strong>of</strong> the first step in any world-shifting practice: proactively<br />
taking space and shaping the terms <strong>of</strong> discourse. “Growth comes<br />
from recognizing gaps in the existing infrastructure,” said Satpreet<br />
Kahlon, and this was most clear when I learned <strong>of</strong> the exhibition’s<br />
genesis. Asia Tail had already assembled a cura<strong>to</strong>rial team with a<br />
mission statement, and had identified dream artists <strong>for</strong> the<br />
exhibition longlist, when early rumblings <strong>of</strong> the King Street Station<br />
redevelopment project began <strong>to</strong> make the rounds. Rather than wait<br />
<strong>for</strong> an open call, the cura<strong>to</strong>rs made their case directly <strong>to</strong> Seattle’s<br />
Office <strong>of</strong> Arts and Culture, ensuring that yəhaw̓ would be King<br />
Street’s inaugural show. With this, cura<strong>to</strong>rs set in<strong>to</strong> motion a<br />
cura<strong>to</strong>rial model centered on Native-<strong>to</strong>-Native transmissions <strong>of</strong><br />
knowledge and skills through a men<strong>to</strong>rship program and artists<br />
residencies at locations including Port Townsend’s Centrum. For<br />
months, cura<strong>to</strong>rs, men<strong>to</strong>rs, and mentees actively brought in<strong>to</strong><br />
being the artistic communities that they once longed <strong>for</strong>. This<br />
invisible cura<strong>to</strong>rial labor <strong>of</strong> supporting emerging artists is the<br />
backbone <strong>of</strong> yəhaw̓ , and reflects the trio’s belief that “opportunity<br />
breeds opportunity” far beyond the duration <strong>of</strong> one art exhibition.
Together the cura<strong>to</strong>rs aimed <strong>to</strong> challenge notions<br />
about who creates <strong><strong>In</strong>digenous</strong> art, what that art can or should look<br />
like, and how <strong><strong>In</strong>digenous</strong> art is presented <strong>to</strong> the world. The<br />
exhibiting artists’ affiliations included but also exceeded the<br />
Duwamish, Snoqualmie, Skokomish, and other Coast Salish tribes<br />
indigenous <strong>to</strong> the region, as Pacific Islander, First Nations,<br />
<strong><strong>In</strong>digenous</strong> Latinx, Native American, and Aboriginal artists were<br />
also supported. <strong>Artists</strong> worked across media and plat<strong>for</strong>ms,<br />
producing pieces that ranged from experimental and conceptual <strong>to</strong><br />
more cus<strong>to</strong>mary. <strong>In</strong> the King Street exhibition, Tail placed artworks<br />
in groupings she found “visually resonant and conversational,” in<br />
defiance <strong>of</strong> dominant art his<strong>to</strong>rical, anthropological, and<br />
archaeological cura<strong>to</strong>rial practices, and differently even from<br />
identity-centric exhibition strategies undertaken by progressive<br />
cura<strong>to</strong>rs.<br />
Walking in<strong>to</strong> yəhaw̓ , viewers were <strong>of</strong>fered multiple ways <strong>to</strong> enter<br />
the space after passing through the glass-partitioned lobby, where<br />
Richard Heikkilä-Sawan (Driftpile Cree)’s rainbow-dyed buffalo pelt<br />
served as a welcome flag. The huge open-floor plan was broken up<br />
by structural beams and movable walls hung at staggered intervals<br />
<strong>to</strong> encourage meandering, but “Songs <strong>for</strong> the Standing Still People,”<br />
a mixed media installation by Timothy White Eagle (White Mountain<br />
Apache), was a natural centerpiece. A heavy, circular wooden<br />
plat<strong>for</strong>m rose majestically from the gallery’s concrete floors,<br />
encircled by a ball-chain curtain that jingled as you entered a space<br />
“designed <strong>to</strong> sing <strong>to</strong> the rocks at its very center.”
ARTICLE SOURCE:<br />
https://hyperallergic.com<br />
IMAGE SOURCE:<br />
Coo-ee Art Website